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Waterloo Campaign
The Waterloo Campaign began when the Emperor Napoleon invaded Belgium with his army of the North to defeat the Anglo-Allied forces of the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian army under Blucher. Napoleon hoped that a great victory might restore his military reputation, whilst confirming his political status within France. The French Emperor also believed that a swift success might deter the allies from marching upon France or even topple the coalition against him, creating circumstances that would allow him to negotiate a peace with the Allied powers in his favour. With four great battles spread over as many days,Quatre Bras, Ligny, Wavre and, of course the most famous, Waterloo, Napoleon's dream of restoring his fortunes was shattered when the campaign reached its dramatic climax at the Battle of Waterloo on the 18th June 1815. Resulting from the unwavering cooperation of Wellington and Blucher, Napoleon suffered a defeat so crushing that his credibility was irretrievably lost, for upon returning to Paris he was forced to abdicate a second time. The political and military career of arguably history's greatest soldier was over and with it his dreams of Empire. Only the humiliation and suffering of his final years in exile on Sainte Helena beckoned, but even then he was not idle, for with the time that was left to him, he laboured to construct the Napoleonic Legend which still blazes bright today. Prelude to War Napoleon's audacious march upon Paris in the spring of 1815 to regain his imperial crown and to restore his Empire, must surely rank as one of the boldest ventures ever undertook by a single man, even for a man of his towering stature. It's stunning success crowned him with fresh glory and he later recalled his triumphant entry into Paris as the happiest day of his life as he was swept up in triumph and borne up into the grandeur of the Tuilleries amid the frenzied adulation of the people. The Hundred Days had begun. To the Allies meeting at the Congress of Vienna, who sought to turn back the clock and redress the map of Europe after two decades of incessant war, Napoleon's return was greeted with rather less enthusiasm and despite their bickering over whom should receive what, which threatened to fracture their tenuous alliance, they placed aside their differences to declare war on their common enemy; Napoleon Bonaparte. Not France, but one man. By the formation of the seventh Coalition which formally came into being just five days after Napoleon's return to power , they pledged to refrain from signing any individual peace agreements with the usurper and to remain in the field until he was utterly and finally defeated, with each agreeing to provide 200,000 men. Upon learning of Napoleon's return, Joachim Murat, King of Naples rushed off to offer his services to his former master. In 1814, Murat had betrayed Napoleon by siding with the Allies in the hopes of securing his own kingdom as the french Empire collapsed. Subsequently, after Napoleon's defeat the treacherous Murat had become only too aware that his tenure of Naples was temporary; that the Allies intended at some point to usurp his kingdom, hence his return to Napoleon, knowing he must stand or fall with his former master. Once he had regained his throne, Napoleon quickly found that circumstances within France had changed. He was no longer the spoiled child of victory, but one man amongst many. He sensed a new mood sweeping France. The optimstic enthusiasm of the glory years of the Empire had vanished, to be replaced by a yearning desire for peace, for the recent horror of war was still fresh in the minds of many after the collapse and defeat of France in the spring of 1814. Napoleon needed peace too, in order to restore confidence to the French people, but also to secure himself as ruler of France. As a realist, Napoleon must have known that the chances of securing peace were fragile; that the Allies would never permit him to rule within France's borders. But the effort had to be made anyway on behalf of the French people and for himself, for he desired to be seen as the victim of the Allies agressive intentions. Without much optimism and hoping against hope that the peace could be maintained, Napoleon made overtures to the major powers of Britain, Austria, Russia and Prussia by trying to reassure them of his his peacefull intentions. But his peaceful overtures were rejected. The cold stance of the Allies was perfectly clear. War was inevitable and Napoleon felt morally justified in preparing for a new war. Only by war could he restore his fortunes and secure his future as leader of the French nation. Any hopes that Napoleon's overtures might have been received favourably, were dashed by the rash actions of his brother-in-law Joachim Murat, who in an attempt to curry favour with his former master, but without consideration of his actions, declared war on Austria and promptly advanced on Rome with 40,000 men and 56 guns. At first, Murat's expedition to liberate Italy met with success as the Pope fled to Genoa and his troops occupied Florence, but Austrian forces were mobilising and Murat was decisively defeated at the Battle of Tolentino on May 2nd. Fleeing to France, Murat's repeated offer of his sabre to his brother-in-law met with an icy silence for Napoleon was incensed at Murat's rash stupidity which he saw as squandering his peace overtures by pre-empting a new war. Murat kicked his heels around Lyon's unemployed, but his services at Waterloo as a unsurpassed leader of cavalry would be sorely missed. Napoleon at once employed his formidable energies and organisational skills into mobilising for a war of survival as he saw it, and by June the impossible had been achieved with the help of Marshal Davout, whom he had appointed minister of war and military governor of Paris. Davout, the victor of Auerstadt in 1806, was a warrior rather than an administative clerk; indeed one of Napoleon's finest fighting generals, and he made it known that he would prefer a field command. Unrelenting to Davout's wishes Napoleon needed someone to instill 'backbone' into Paris if he were obliged to leave the capital and take to the field once again against his enemies. Ruthlessly efficient, loyal to the extreme and ebued with an iron will in seeing a job finished, Davout was that man. Only Davout could be entrusted to safeguard the capital in his absence. The strategic concept of the Allies called for a massive demonstation of their power along the whole of the French eastern frontier. Two major offensives were planned under the supervision of Prince Schwarzenberg, aimed at Paris over the Rhine and the Meuse as well as a smaller supporting offensive aimed at Lyons. This could take several more months of course to build up the concentration of troops required. Only in Belgium under the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal Blucher were the Allied armies already rapidly gathering in strength. In early May, Blucher ever eager to come to grips with the French pressed for an advance into France to begin in June, but Wellington being more cautious, persuaded his impetuous ally to await the arrival of the Austrians and Prussians first, though both agreed that in the event of an attack by Napoleon, they would draw in their forces to unite as one entity, Blucher concentrating his army at Sombreffe, Whilst Wellington would concentrate his own forces towards him. To meet the hostile intentions of the Allies, Napoleon had managed to assemble 232,000 men at arms, ressurecting in the process of filling the ranks of his newly reformed Grande Armee such notable units as the elite Old Guard which would form the backbone of the army. As in 1805, Napoleon needed a great victory that would ensure his survival. Nothing less than a stunning success could restore his military reputation, his fortunes and fill the nations empty treasury. Two choices were thus open to Napoleon. He could either attack the Allies before they had a chance to organise against him or else he could sit back to wait for the Allies to come to him and defend against their encroaching forces in the style of the 1814 Campaign. Whilst the latter plan was attractive for it might enable him to build up and train his forces, he was also aware that this strategy had failed the previous year. Much more attractive to Napoleon was the first plan, and he intended to seize thew initiative first by assuming the offensive before the Allies could possibly have time to bring their superior forces to bear against him. Since Wellington, commanding the Anglo-Dutch army which he estimated at being some 105,000 strong and Blucher's Prussian army which he likewise estimated having in excess of 120,000 men were the nearest within striking range deployed in Belgium, Napoleon planned that this was where his axe would fall first. But, in order to strike at the two allied armies, Napoleon would have to split his total available manpower of 232,000 men in order to leave sizeable fighting units upon the frontiers to pin and to hold the encroaching Austrians and Russians whilst he dealt with both Wellington and Blucher. Of his 232,000 men, only 128,000 men would be available to launch his campaign in the north. Thus, Napoleon would be at a numerical disadvantage from the start. To fight a united Anglo-Dutch and Prussian army would be to court disaster therefore, but Napoleon had a concept called the 'Strategy of the Central position' which could offset this. It was easier to attempt than to achieve and a lot would rely on speed and surprise , but Napoleon was confident he could pull it off. The strategy entailed splitting the two armies apart by slicing between them. Moving against one army with his main strength to defeat them, Napoleon would detach a smaller, token force to pin and hold the other force to prevent it from intervening. With his primary foe defeated and in retreat, Napoleon would then march his main body to rejoin his detached force and then force the secondary enemy army to a battle of annihilation. Napoleon anticipated a short and sharp victorious campaign in which he would defeat and throw back the two Allied armies and subsequently occupy Brussels, after which he was confident the Belgians would rise to declare for him. With the defeat of their most celebrated general and the destruction of their army, the English government that was hostile to him might well collapse like a pack of cards, to be replaced by a party more sympathetic towards him. With the Prussians likewise reeling back upon their lines of communications via Liege to the Rhine, perhaps in utter defeat, only the Austrians and the Russians would be left to deal with. Maybe a great victory, another Austerlitz in Belgium would prove enough to give the Allies food for thought. With England defeated, it was not inconceivable that the union binding them might break as each power broke away to pursue their own interests. In the event that the Russians and Austrians still showed the inclination to fight as they fell upon General Rapp and Marshal Suchet guarding the Eastern frontier, Napoleon considered he would be well placed in Belgium to fall southwards upon their flanks and rear, cutting their supply lines from their bases. In the unlikely event that his lightning strike against Belgium failed, Napoleon reasoned that he could still fall back on his secondary strategy to redeploy his forces before Paris and Lyons to fight a repetition of the 1814 campaign with a still reasonable chance of success. Mindful of the betrayal and intrique that had enabled the swift capitualtion of Paris to the Allies the year before, Napoleon was confident that the loyal and dependable Davout could safeguard the city against any possible repeat of the previous years treachery. Secure in the knowledge that his capital was in capable hands, Napoleon departed Paris in the early hours of the 12th of June to rejoin his army at Beaumont near the Belgium border where it was poised to strike at the Anglo-Dutch and Prussian armies. The Commanders The Opposing Armies